Bannock County officials discuss short-term safety fixes as condemned bridge forces gravel trucks onto neighborhood roads

A neighborhood representative told the Bannock County Board of Commissioners that repeated gravel-truck traffic on Rio Vista and Tank Farm Road has created a safety hazard for drivers, bicyclists and school buses and urged immediate fixes and outreach to trucking companies and the neighboring Fort Hall tribal government.

The resident said the problem has been ongoing: “So we're we're here to propose a solution to that so that they can mine their gravel and and we don't have a tragedy in the neighborhood. We've had some real close accidents that could've caused a life out there already with that.” The speaker described three incidents in the past year involving gravel trucks: a rollover at the top of Venus and Rio Vista, a truck that ran into an irrigation ditch and disrupted water, and a large truck found sideways with a car underneath.

County staff and commissioners said they do not control all of the roads involved and that a long-term fix — replacing a weight-restricted bridge west of Siphon — would likely…